Unbeknownst to the father and daughter pair, someone else was watching their training session. That person was Yuna, Livi’s mother.
“That man,” she sighed, “ What will I do with him?”
The front door of the house was slammed open and Rafe rushed inside. He flinched slightly when he saw me and gently closed the door.
“So you were watching, I thought I sensed something odd” he said, walking over to one of his horribly made chairs and sitting down.
“ You have the gall to just sit there after what you did? Poor Livi was terrified she probably doesn’t even know why you were -“
“ I know that” he snapped, “ I know that better than anyone else. She’s just too similar to him. Soft, kind, naive, what if she ends up like him? Killed by someone that took her kindness as a weakness , murdered in cold blood.
He didn’t say who he meant by “him” , but I could roughly guess who he meant. Before he became a general, Rafe was known as a “good-for-nothing” by his fellow clansmen. Even though he trained harder than anyone else, his connection to his gift was weak and that was something training couldn’t fix.
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As monsters, strength means everything. It is just how things are. Our world, Olivera, is constantly under siege and the only way we have survived thus far is by placing a barrier between our world and the world of our enemies. This barrier is powered by the 5 major clans; Aqua, Helio, Terra, Kaze, and Cosmos. They use their strong connection to their gift to keep the barrier in place. Rafe is the son of the chief of Helio. A clan known for their strong gifts with fire. It comes to no surprise that Rafe was ostracized since his connection to his gift was weak. There was only one person that dragged him from the darkness and showed him that strength came in all different forms. That person was his little brother, the person he cherished more than anyone.
“Livi said that she needn’t shed another’s blood to protect someone. That’s the same thing Ruey said ” he choked, “ When she said that, their faces merged together and I was back at that moment; Ruey dying right in front of me while I was unable to do anything. At that moment, my training, me proving to the clan that gifts weren’t everything, me being the strongest, they all meant nothing.”
Even after so many years, that moment still weighed heavily on his heart. If only he stopped Ruey from fraternizing with humans, if only he realized that the humans had invaded their territory. So many scenarios where he could have saved his brother played in his mind, yet, the dead remained dead no matter how much you long for their return.
“My love I have told you once and will say this again Ruey died because of the selfishness of humans. Not because of you or anyone else. We have a beautiful daughter who is still alive and breathing. Don’t treat her like some opportunity to do the things you think you should have for your brother. You’ll only end up breaking both of your hearts.”